Result of Service

The consultant will be paid a total amount of USD 12 000 in four instalments as per the schedule below: V. First Payment will be upon delivering of a satisfactory Inception Report, 10% of the total remuneration, VI. Second payment will be upon delivering of a satisfactory Diagnostic Report, 20% of the total remuneration. VII. Third payment will be upon delivering of satisfactory Draft National AfCFTA Strategy and Implementation Plan and Revised Diagnostic Report, 30% of the total remuneration; and VIII. Fourth and last payment will be upon delivering of a final National AfCFTA Strategy and Implementation Plan, 40% of the total remuneration.

Work Location

Remote

Expected duration

6 months

Duties and Responsibilities

1. BACKGROUND The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21st March 2018 is a key milestone in Africa’s Integration Agenda. The Agreement includes Protocols on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes, Investment, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Competition Policy, Women and Youth and Digital Trade. The negotiations towards the protocols on the first three issues were concluded in 2022 and the final protocols were adopted by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government at its meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 19 February 2023. Angola deposited the instrument of ratification on the 4th November 2020, thus becoming a State Party to the Agreement. The AfCFTA is expected to be a key engine of economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa in line with the 2030 Agenda adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 for “The Africa We Want”. For the AfCFTA to deliver the expected outcomes, priority actions are to be undertaken in the short to medium term. Firstly, the ratification of the AfCFTA is critical. Efforts to support Member States in consensus-building to secure the ratification of the Agreement should be accompanied by strengthening the AfCFTA marketplace through continental policies on competition, investment and intellectual property rights. Secondly, there is a need to build on the political momentum behind the AfCFTA to support policy reforms that are aimed at implementing the Agreement as well as the required domestication. In this regard, it is critical for Member States to undertake deliberate actions and deploy necessary efforts through effective and integrated AfCFTA national strategies with a view to maximize the benefits of the Agreement while minimizing potential induced adverse effects. The strategies will be complemented by an effective monitoring and evaluation framework that will track progress on the implementation of the Agreement. Similarly, they will be informed by regional commitments to economic integration and industrialization; as well as National Policies and overarching strategies such as the Long-Term Development Strategy for Angola, the National Development Plan and other sectoral strategies, among others. As part of its role in providing technical assistance to Member States, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is leading the implementation of a project aimed at designing national AfCFTA strategies. AfCFTA Implementation strategies are expected to identify where comparative advantages lie for each country for diversification as well as priority value chains to be developed in order to support economic diversification and maximize trade potential in the context of the Agreement. Beyond sectors identified as having a comparative advantage, the document should be forward looking and identify sectors and industries of the future, which can enable Angola to ultimately integrate into regional and global value chains and higher value-added goods. Cross cutting issues to be considered in the strategy include gender mainstreaming, youth, people living with disabilities, environmental and climate change mitigation strategies as well as technologies. Trade liberalization policies will not achieve intended development goals if they are not designed and implemented with the adequate consideration of gender, youth and people living with disabilities issues. The liberalization of trade impacts men and women differently due to the different economic and social positions they occupy. Thus, developing a gender-sensitive approach is necessary to mitigate the negative impact of trade policies on women and enhance the positive outcomes for women which will strengthen the overall effectiveness of these policies. It is in this context that ECA – the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) and the Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (ECA SRO-SA) intend to recruit a national consultant to lead country-level activities on the development of a National AfCFTA Strategy to support implementation of the Agreement in Angola. The consultant will specifically develop a 5-year National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy for trade in goods, its detailed action plan, a communications plan and the attendant Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism. 2. SCOPE OF WORK Working under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce working with ECA SRO-SA, ATPC and the Lead International Consultant, the national consultant on trade in goods is expected to collaborate with various stakeholders at national, regional and global levels to develop a strategy for Angola. The consultant will contribute the trade in goods component to the Draft National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy and Action Plan for Angola. The key components of the strategy should highlight but not be limited to the following: Macroeconomic Framework, Production and Trade, AfCFTA Situational Analysis, AfCFTA- related Risks and Mitigation Actions, Identification and Prioritization of Production and Trade Opportunities, Constraints to overcome and Strategic Actions required, Strategic Objectives, Action plan and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, Financing the Implementation of the Agreement, Communication and visibility plan and strategy budget. The scope of work will take into consideration cooperation; investment; intellectual property rights (IPR), competition, digital trade and women and youth issues. In view of the above scope of work and in the context of trade in goods, the Consultant will be expected to undertake the following activities: The Consultant is, among other things, expected to undertake the following during the assignments; i) From a trade in goods context, produce a national AfCFTA implementation strategy and Action Plan for Angola, working with a team comprising an international consultant, a national trade in services expert and a local consultant (logistics support). ii) Work with a team that includes an international expert, a national trade in services expert and a national consultant providing administrative support; iii) Analyse Angola’s production and trade of specific goods and articulate the country’s offensive and defensive issues in trade in goods; iv) Identify opportunities for tapping into regional value chains for domestic production or further value addition; v) Identify Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) to trade that are currently faced by Angolan exporters and importers in the regions and beyond and devise a mechanism to deal with them in the AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy; vi) Develop and elaborate export promotion strategies for identified priority AfCFTA markets; vii) Articulate comparative and competitive benefits for Angola’s trade in goods in relation to the AfCFTA; viii) Collect relevant national data to be used in the development of the Angola’s AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy and Action Plan with nominated champions for specific deliverables and timeframes; ix) Review the relevant national and regional (SACU, SADC, and Tripartite) industrialization and trade strategies and policies as they impact trade between Angola and the Tripartite Member States; x) Contribute to Angola’s AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy and Action Plan based on an agreed methodological framework and in full consultation with the national stakeholders identified in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce and Commerce. The national strategy and action plan should be concretely informed by national data and other national strategy documents; xi) Undertake value chain analysis of priority production and trade commodities at national level to map the chains and identify opportunities and challenges/constraints using an approach and outline agreed with ECA; xii) Assist the country in establishing and operationalizing a National AfCFTA Implementation Committee to ensure meaningful participation of all stakeholders in the development and implementation of the national strategy on the AfCFTA; xiii) Advise on the Legislative amendments required for effective implementation of the AfCFTA National Strategy for the goods sector; xiv) Recommend trade facilitation, industrial and export support policies required for effective implementation of the Agreement; xv) Coordinate all project activities at country level and organize two national consultation forums for the development and validation of AfCFTA National Strategy, working closely with all the stakeholders involved in the project including government officials, the private sector, women entrepreneurs, civil society organizations and the academia; xvi) Integrate gender and youth dimensions through disaggregated data and key relevant gender indicators into Angola’s AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy and Action Plan; xvii) Timeously submit the Angola AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy and Action Plan, reports of stakeholder consultations and reports of data collection, to the Ministry of Commerce’; xviii) Identify training needs for effective implementation of Angola’s National AfCFTA Strategy; xix) Recommend the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) mechanisms of the Strategy; xx) Attend regular meetings convened by the Ministry, UNECA and the lead international consultant; xxi) Ensure quality, and in time delivery of the project outputs at national levels; and xxii) Assist with any other ad-hoc requests within the context of the project; 5. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS/REPORTING LINES The Ministry Commerce in consultation with ECA is the lead of all processes. The Project Manager for the Project will be an official in the Ministry of Commerce. The National Consultant on Trade in goods will liaise with the Project Manager and the International Consultant on daily basis regarding the implementation of the project with the technical support of UNECA. The Ministry of Commerce is the lead of all processes. The Project Manager for the Project will be an Official in the Ministry of Commerce. The International Consultant will liaise the Project Manager on a daily basis regarding the implementation of the project with the technical support of UNECA. The Ministry of Commerce shall appoint a Technical Working Group to provide oversight for the assignment. The International Consultant will be required to present all deliverables to the Technical Working Group and ECA for review and approval. The Consultant will also be expected to present the draft final reports to a national stakeholder forum for validation.

Qualifications/special skills

The consultant should have minimum academic qualifications as follows; Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or above, a PhD will be an added advantage) in Trade Economics, International Trade Policy/ International Trade Law, International Business or a related field The consultant should have a minimum of seven (7) years of proven experience in trade policy formulation, regional integration, planning, strategy development and trade development issues. Proven ability to draft technical reports/papers is desirable. Knowledge of trade, development and regional integration issues in the African context is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. For this post, fluency in English (both oral and written) and fluency in Portuguese (both oral and written) is an added advantage.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.